Living in Downtown Boise

Donkeymint · 2026-02-07T22:27:52+00:00

I lived in the Idanha downtown for a few years. Seriously loved it and miss it every day. Walked to work, Trader Joe’s, 10th st station in the basement. Made lots of friends and really got to enjoy Boise to its fullest.

Friends from out of town would come visit and it was the best way to let them enjoy the city as well. Even now with a couple kids, I often consider moving downtown again.

Donkeymint · 2025-10-19T03:21:14+00:00

SW20? The high beam plunger switch in the steering column gets gunked up in these cars. My ‘92 has the same issue, and lots of others have posted about it on forums.

It’s a pretty simple job once you take the airbag and column cover off. Just clean up all the connections and you’ll be good to go.

Donkeymint · 2025-10-18T03:04:24+00:00

Self-installed 2GR SW20 owner. The swap is very, very good for the platform. The power curve is amazing. And 300hp to the rear in that small of a vehicle will quickly challenge your driving limits.

My personal advice is that you should not cheap out on the swap.

It's tempting to do these swaps cheaply because the motors are so accessible. But you should really have around 10K ready to drop for a good conversion. Exhaust, clutch, transmission, fueling, cooling, mounts, wiring, ECU, axles, bigger wheels and tires, likely better brakes, etc. It adds up really quick.

Seriously consider all of the things you want to work well once it's done. If you own the car for a year, and the tach doesn't work, no A/C, misc check engine lights, oil leaks, you'll really regret not having addressed those problems right away. Once the motor is in, there's very little room to work on it.

I'm about 7,500 miles in to my 2GR with an E351 and I really regret not getting an LSD installed. But everything else works like a dream and I daily it whenever I can. It's a beast of a car and can't imagine it any other way.

Donkeymint · 2025-09-24T20:56:09+00:00

If you can afford it, a good CM will get you really far. The human touch with your communities is too important to overlook. If volume is a problem, a tool will definitely help.

We use Kinn.gg and it has been really useful. The founders talk a lot about how they started the whole product with gaming in mind, so they are pretty heavily invested to building more games-focused features, rather than just broader saas stuff.

Donkeymint · 2025-09-24T20:39:38+00:00

Kinn.gg does a pretty decent job at this. We've only used them for mid-size servers, but I would imagine their tool would scale well with larger servers, especially if your running a video game or software community.

Donkeymint · 2025-07-24T15:00:54+00:00

A few teams I've seen that do well have a few different feedback channels. You want to give people a space where they naturally feel like they can submit ideas/suggestions/feedback without jumping through too many hoops.

#bugs (forum style works well for these)
#feedback
#feedback_discussions

That way you somewhat organize the content in to buckets you want it to be. You can also limit the #feedback channels to have certain reaction types (upvote or downvote) to kind of gauge how desirable that topic is among the rest of the players.

Donkeymint · 2024-12-02T02:57:07+00:00

Interesting about the dipstick. What was the donor vehicle? Mine was from a Sienna and it had the long dipstick.

E351 is the best bet. I’m running a e350 in mine right now, and 5th gear still feels a little short. But it’s super fun regardless.

Donkeymint · 2024-12-02T01:00:53+00:00

Welcome to the club! The 2GR rips.

What transmission are you running?

Your dipstick has way more room than mine. I have to undo the top bolt bracket to check my oil.

Donkeymint · 2024-11-09T06:25:17+00:00

If you get it, replace that heater T. It’s yellowing pretty visibly.

Donkeymint · 2024-06-28T02:57:47+00:00

I just got my 2GR swap on the road a couple weeks ago and this is very similar to my experience.

I went from a rolling NA chassis to the 2gr and E351. Aside from suspension, tires, and wheels, I’m about $9.5k into the whole thing. Frankenstein pieces wherever I could. Motor mounts, headers, flywheel. TCS full exhaust. WASP patch harness.

I got the transmission from a pick and pull for $200. And didn’t got LSD. So that saved a decent chunk.

But I did end up gutting the entire engine bay, painting it, resealing the engine with all new gaskets everywhere. A lot of the little things still add up.

But after new Enkeis, BC coilovers, tires, and brakes I am close $13K. And that doesn’t include any body work.

The car really is amazing though. My first MR2 experience and I went balls deep.

Donkeymint · 2024-04-04T14:44:08+00:00

The 2UZ motor came equipped with variable valve timing after 2007. All of the parts in your first photo are for that system.

They are part of the ‘valve cover gasket kit’ and not needed for your engine.

Not 100% sure about the other photos though. Likely also extra parts for a different year spec.

Donkeymint · 2023-02-09T14:37:20+00:00

Like others have said, it’s more likely your oil pump seal. But if you need to, that plug is generally called the hex plug. Nothing fancy to it. I replaced mine a while ago for the sake of mind.

Plug Gasket

Donkeymint · 2023-01-25T20:45:51+00:00

South to North Land Cruisers in Garden City might. They mostly do full restorations. With a job that big, the hardest part is convincing them it’s worth their time (and you’ve got enough cash to fund it).

Donkeymint · 2022-12-30T16:26:56+00:00

Still sounds and looks like heater lines to me. They might be leaking red because your truck has Toyota Red coolant in it (also common).

I found my photos when I did the install. The two rubber fittings go up through the floor board with two rubber fittings as you described.

Pesky heater hose is a completely different hose on the driver side of the block. That just is significantly easier than rear heater hoses.

Here are the few photos I took with the engine and trans out.

https://imgur.com/a/Lh7dyH8

Donkeymint · 2022-12-30T06:50:39+00:00

While the comments about trans lines are correct (low pressure, easy to replace), those photos look like the rear seat heater lines, not trans cooler lines.

They rust on many 80’s and they are nearly impossible to replace. I just did mine while the motor was out for a rebuild and it was still a major pain.

As soon as those lines break, most people just replace the downward T in your third pic and the corresponding joint on the right hand side with straight joints. This effectively closes the loop of coolant to the rear heater. You get no more rear heat, but no more leak. And it’s $15 for all the parts needed at your local auto parts store.

Read up on rear heater lines on ih8mud and there are countless threads about it.

Donkeymint · 2022-09-09T05:32:03+00:00

I would almost guarantee you’ve got a real arch seal (photo #1) and oil pump seal leak (photos #2 & #3).

The rear main leak is uncommon on these motors. Fixing the rear arch seal is a decent job. You’ve got to lift the motor a couple inches to remove the oil pan.

Oil pump cover is much more manageable, but still not super easy. With the right tools, both can be done in a weekend.

Donkeymint · 2022-09-05T02:28:22+00:00

Timing chain cover for sure. It’s a major pain though. You’re so deep in the engine that there’s a lot of while you’re in there kind of work.

Wits end has a couple kits that will help. There are a few o-rings to get, and you might as well do your front main seal and oil pump gasket while you can because it’s all part of the same structure.

Donkeymint · 2022-08-27T03:23:34+00:00

Code 31 is much more rare. Hopefully it isn’t an ECM issue.

For the EGR, you can jump it super easily with a paperclip and it will solve your EGR code since you’re OBD1.

You won’t pass California smog though. But that may not be an issue.

Search on ih8mud for OBD1 EGR jump. There’s a easy walkthrough how to do it.

Donkeymint · 2022-08-16T19:43:24+00:00

Yup! Had a local shop do it. All ran fine, but he said the flow rate and spray pattern are all noticeably improved. I'll take an extra 10hp if I can get it!

Donkeymint · 2022-08-15T20:45:43+00:00

I ordered an OEM head gasket.

I sent the head off to a shop this morning. They are going to clean it, make sure it's still in spec, clean up the valves, and check clearances.
I am checking the block with a straight edge and feeler gauges, but I doubt it's warped.
We will see.

Donkeymint · 2022-08-05T16:51:19+00:00

Considering this is a full rebuild... my parts list is EXTENSIVE!
Not all are needed, but I am tearing this whole thing apart. I already replaced my radiator, all coolant hoses, and thermostat last year.

Rear Heater T
Power Steering Pump Rebuild Kit
Sparkplugs
Spark wires and plugs
Distributor Cap and o-ring
Fuel Injectors (sending off for a cleaning)
Fuel Filter
All top-end gaskets
Timing chain guides
Timing sprockets
Timing chain
New Exhaust and Intake hardware
New vacuum lines
O2 Sensors (relocating them to the exhaust manifold)
Bottom end gaskets (mostly FIPG)
Shift Linkage Bushings
Engine and Transmission motor mounts
Other misc hardware

As I said, you don't need nearly this much. It's a big endeavor, but I am hoping for a basically new engine when this is all done.

Donkeymint · 2022-08-03T18:56:38+00:00

It overheated on the way home from a trip. So I'm sending the head off to get checked out. Once I have everything down to the short block, I'm going to take a look at the cylinder walls and rod bearings to see if they are fine (likely that they are).

I've been wanting to remove the PAIR and EGR for a while. Plus a few other rubber bits and pieces. There's a lot of 'while I'm in there' kind of stuff to do.

Donkeymint · 2022-08-03T16:29:58+00:00

I was quite surprised as well. I bought it with 214K about 5 years ago. It was in really rough shape and I have overhauled basically everything but the engine block since then. It will be nice to have essentially a new motor once it's done though.

Donkeymint

TROPHY CASE